Searching apparatus and searching method

ABSTRACT

When an album search is started, message “For Album?” which prompts the user to select album search is displayed. When the user has selected the album search, message “By Title?” which prompts the user to select album title name search is displayed. When the user has selected the title name search, message “Keyword IN” which prompts the user to input a key word is displayed. When the user has input key word “P” for the search, the HD recording and reproducing device  300  references the album/track name database file and searches the database file for an album title name containing the input key word. The search result is displayed. In addition, highlight portions of tracks of an album corresponding to the search result are successively reproduced from track  1.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a searching apparatus and a searchingmethod, in particular, to those which allow a plurality of programsrecorded on a recording medium to be searched for a desired program.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventional recording mediums used for audio devices have a recordingcapacity for around 80 minutes of audio data. However, as the recordingcapacity of recording mediums has been increased, audio data has beenable to be recorded for longer time than before. In addition, sinceprices of recording mediums have been lowered, the users have been ableto use recording mediums which have a large recording capacity at lowprices. Among these recording mediums, a hard disk drive (hereinafterabbreviates as HDD) is the most attractive recording medium because of alarge recording capacity and a low price.

Since the HDD can store much more albums than the conventional recordingmediums, it is difficult for the user to know the location of his or herdesired album/track in the HDD at once. To solve such a problem, areproducing device which can search a large number of albums/tracksstored in a HDD for use's desired album/track using a name of thealbum/track name and an artist name thereof at high speed has beenproposed.

When albums/tracks are searched using an artist name on such areproducing device, so many album names or track names may be output.Thus, they may not be displayed on a screen at a time. In this case, theuser should search these album names or track names for his or herdesired album name or track name while scrolling the screen. Thus, it istroublesome for the user to search for his or her desired album ortrack.

In addition, since data is searched using only characters, not in anintuitive manner, it takes a long time to search for user's desiredalbum or track.

In addition, when a large number of albums/tracks have been recorded inthe HDD, the user often has a difficulty to know his or her desiredalbum name or track name (music title). As a result, it was difficultfor the user to do that.

Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a searchingapparatus and a searching method which allows the user to easily searchfor his or her desired album or track.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a searchingapparatus and a searching method which allow the user to intuitivelysearch for his or her desired album or track.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a searchingapparatus and a searching method which allow the user to easily searchfor his or her desired album and track without need to know their names.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

To solve the forgoing problem, claim 1 of the present invention is asearching apparatus for searching for a desired program/group recordedon a recording medium, the recording medium having a program area and amanagement area, a plurality of programs having been recorded in theprogram area, the programs being managed as groups in the managementarea, group names and program names of programs of the groups beingmanaged in the management area, highlight portions of representativeprograms of the groups and highlight portions of the programs beingmanaged in the management area, the searching apparatus comprising:

input means for inputting a part or all of a name of a desiredprogram/album as a search object;

comparing means for comparing the part or all of the name of theprogram/album which has been input by the input means with the programnames/group names managed in the management area of the recordingmedium;

displaying means for displaying a desired program/group candidate listin accordance with compared results of the comparing means; and

controlling means for causing the displaying means to display thecandidate list and reproducing highlight portions of the programs/groupson the candidate list.

Claim 6 of the present invention is a searching method for searching fora desired program/group recorded on a recording medium, the recordingmedium having a program area and a management area, a plurality ofprograms having been recorded in the program area, the programs beingmanaged as groups in the management area, group names and program namesof programs of the groups being managed in the management area,highlight portions of representative programs of the groups andhighlight portions of the programs being managed in the management area,the searching method comprising the steps of:

comparing the part or all of the name of the program/album which hasbeen input with the program names/group names managed in the managementarea of the recording medium;

displaying a desired program/group candidate list in accordance withcompared results obtained at the comparing step; and

reproducing highlight portions of the programs/groups on the candidatelist.

According to claims 1 and 6 of the present invention, the input meansinputs a part or all of a name of a desired program/album as a searchobject. The comparing means compares the part or all of the name of theprogram/album which has been input by the input means with the programnames/group names managed in the management area of the recordingmedium. The displaying means displays a desired program/group candidatelist in accordance with compared results of the comparing means. Thecontrolling means reproduces highlight portions of the programs/groupson the candidate list. Thus, even if a plurality of search results aredisplayed, the user can easily identify his or her desiredprogram/track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of adubbing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of asystem controller 100 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a discreproducing device 200 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of aframe of a CD.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of theformat of a sub code of a CD.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of aframe of a sub code of a CD.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of Qdata of a sub code.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of adata portion of Q data.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a HDrecording and reproducing device according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining a process for recording audiodata to the HD recording and reproducing device according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining a process for recording audiodata to the HD recording and reproducing device according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a tree chart showing the structure of files stored in an HDD.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing data structure of an album numbermanagement file.

FIG. 14A is a schematic diagram showing a header portion of the albumnumber management file.

FIG. 14B is a schematic diagram showing the structure of other portions(non-header portion) of the album number management file.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of albumreproduction management file Pbxxxxxx.msf.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of data of whichone ATRAC3 data file is divided by a predetermined unit and an attributefile is added to each of the divided files.

FIG. 17A is a schematic diagram for explaining a combine editing processand a divide editing process according to the present invention in thecase that two programs of audio data are successively recorded.

FIG. 17B is a schematic diagram showing a combined result of two musicprograms by the combine editing process according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 17C is a schematic diagram showing a divided result as two musicprograms by the divide editing process according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of albumreproduction management file Pbxxxxxx.msf.

FIG. 19A is a schematic diagram showing a header portion of albumreproduction management file Pbxxxxxx.msf.

FIG. 19B is a schematic diagram showing other portions (non-headerportion) of album reproduction management file Pbxxxxxx.msf.

FIG. 19C is a schematic diagram showing the structure of additionalinformation data of album reproduction management file Pbxxxxxx.msf.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing a detailed data structure of anATRAC3 data file.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of an upperportion of an attribute header which composes an ATRAC3 data file.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of a middleportion of an attribute header which composes an ATRAC3 data file.

FIG. 23 is a table showing recording modes and record durations thereof.

FIG. 24 is a table showing copy control states.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of a lowerportion of an attribute header which composes an ATRAC3 data file.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of a header of adata block of an ATRAC3 data file.

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram showing album/track name database fileNamedb.msf.

FIG. 28 shows a block ID portion of album/track name database fileNamedb.msf.

FIG. 29 shows a name record portion of album/track name database fileNamedb.msf.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of reproductiontime management database file Playtime.msf.

FIG. 31 shows a block ID portion of reproduction time managementdatabase file Playtime.msf.

FIG. 32 shows a TRK record portion of reproduction time managementdatabase file Playtime.msf.

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of CD TOC databasefile Tocdb.msf.

FIG. 34 shows a block ID portion of CD TOC database file Tocdb.msf.

FIG. 35 shows an ALBUM TOC record of CD TOC database file Tocdb.msf.

FIG. 36 shows TOC information of an ALBUM TOC record of CD TOC databasefile Tocdb.msf.

FIG. 37 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of anaudio input and output portion according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 38 shows an example of an album stored in the HD recording andreproducing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39 shows detailed information of album 8 shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 40 is a flow chart for explaining an album searching operation andprocess using an album name.

FIG. 41 is a flow chart for explaining a track searching operation andprocess using an artist name.

FIG. 42 is a flow chart for explaining a registering operation andprocess for registering a search result to a play list.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of thepresent invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows an example of thestructure of a dubbing apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the dubbing apparatus accordingto the embodiment of the present invention is composed of a systemcontroller 100, a disc reproducing device 200, a HD recording andreproducing device 300, an audio input and output portion 400, and anexternal control signal input and output portion 500.

An audio signal which is sent and received between the disc reproducingdevice 200, the HD recording and reproducing device 300, and the audioinput and output portion 400 is an audio signal based on for example IEC60958 digital audio interface. Since the audio input and output portion400 has an analog input terminal which will be described later, ananalog audio signal is input to an analog input terminal of the audioinput and output portion 400. The analog audio signal is converted intoa digital signal by an AD converter which will be described later. Aserial signal which is synchronized with an LR clock and a bit clock issupplied to the HD recording and reproducing device 300.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of thesystem controller 100 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 2, the system controller 100 is composed ofa controller 101, a display device 102, and an operating device 103. Thecontroller 101 controls each block of the dubbing apparatus using asystem control signal.

The display device 102 is a display device composed of for example aliquid crystal display or an FL tube. The display device 102 isconnected to the controller 101. The display device 102 displays datacorresponding to a signal supplied from the controller 101. The displaydevice 102 displays information of for example a track number and a playtime corresponding to a signal supplied from the controller 101

The operating device 103 is used to operate the dubbing apparatus. Inreality, the operating device 103 has a power key, a reproduction key, apause key, a stop key, a record key, a synchronous record key, a playlist registration key, a menu key, a jog key, and so forth.

The power key is used to turn on/off the power of the dubbing apparatus.The reproduction key is used to start reproducing a music file recordedon an optical disc loaded in the disc reproducing device 200 or a musicfile recorded in the HD recording and reproducing device. The pause keyis used to temporarily stop recording/reproducing a file recorded on anoptical disc loaded in the disc reproducing device 200 or a filerecorded in the HD recording and reproducing device. The stop key isused to stop recording/reproducing a music file recorded on an opticaldisc loaded in the disc reproducing device 200 or a music file recordedin the HD recording and reproducing device. The record key is used tostart recording data to the HD recording and reproducing device.

The synchronous record key is a key used to perform a synchronousrecording. The synchronous recording is a recording method forautomatically starting and stopping a recording operation insynchronization with the reproduction side. In reality, when the userpresses the synchronous record key, the Disc reproducing device 200starts a reproducing operation and the HD recording and reproducingdevice 300 also starts a recording operation. When the disc reproducingdevice 200 stops the reproducing operation, the HD recording andreproducing device 300 stops the recording operation. Thus, withoutnecessity of user's simultaneous operations for the disc reproducingdevice 200 and the HD recording and reproducing device 300, datareproduced by the disc reproducing device 200 can be easily stored tothe HD recording and reproducing device 300. The menu key is used todisplay a menu for editing operations and so forth on the display device102. The play list registration key is used to start registering a musicprogram to a play list.

The jog key is structured so that it can be pressed and rotated. Inreality, the jog key has intermittent stop positions for example 10 stopposition in one turn. At each stop position, data is updated. Forexample, when the jog key is rotated for one stop position on the right,a value displayed on the display device 102 is updated by +. Incontrast, when the jog key rotated for one stop position on the left, avalue displayed on the display device 102 is updated by −. With only thejog key, operations for reproduction, pause, stop, record, synchronousrecord, and menu selection can be performed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of thedisc reproducing device 200 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 3, the disc reproducing device 200 iscomposed of a spindle motor 201, an optical head 202, an RF (RadioFrequency) amplifier 203, a servo circuit 204, a thread 205, an EFM(Eight to Fourteen Modulation) and CIRC (Cross Interleave Reed-SolomonCode) decoding circuit 206, and a controller 207. In FIG. 3, an opticaldisc D is for example a compact disc.

In a CD reproducing mode, an optical disc D loaded to the discreproducing device 200 is rotated and driven at constant linear velocity(CLV) by the spindle motor 201.

The optical head 202 radiates laser light to a recoding surface of theoptical disc D and receives the reflected light therefrom. As a result,the optical head 202 reads data recorded as pits on the optical disc Dand supplies the data to the RF amplifier 203. The intensity of laserlight is optimized by an APC (Automatic Power Control) (not shown). Theoptical head 202 is movable in tracking and focus directions. Inaddition, the optical head 202 is movable in the radius direction of theoptical disc D corresponding to a signal supplied from the thread 205.

The RF amplifier 203 generates a reproduction RF signal, a focus errorsignal, and a tracking error signal corresponding to the signal suppliedfrom the optical head 202. The focus error signal and the tracking errorsignal are supplied to the servo circuit 204. The reproduction RF signalis supplied to the EFM and CIRC decoding circuit 206.

The servo circuit 204 generates various drive signals which are a focusdrive signal, a tracking drive signal, a thread drive signal, and aspindle drive signal corresponding to the focus error signal and thetracking error signal supplied from the RF amplifier 203. Correspondingto these signals, the operations of the thread 205 and the spindle motor201 are controlled.

The EFM and CIRC decoding circuit 206 digitizes the reproduction RFsignal supplied from the RF amplifier 203 and obtains an EFM signal. TheEFM and CIRC decoding circuit 206 performs an EFM demodulation and aCIRC decode for the EFM signal so that information which has been readfrom the optical disc is quantized with 16 bits (BInary digit (bit)) andsampled at 44.1 kHz is decoded to a digital signal. The digital signalis supplied to the audio input and output portion 400. The CIRC decodeis an error detecting process and an error correcting process which usea CIRC. In reality, the CIRC decode is an error detecting process and anerror correcting process using C1 and C2 codes.

The EFM and CIRC decoding circuit 206 extracts control data such as TOC(Table Of Contents) and a sub code (they will be described later) fromthe reproduction RF signal supplied from the RF amplifier 203 andsupplies the extracted control data to the controller 207.

The controller 207 controls each portion corresponding to data such asTOC and sub code supplied from the EFM and CIRC decoding circuit 206. Inaddition, the controller 207 transmits control data such as TOC and subcode to the system controller 100. In addition, the controller 207receives a system control signal from the system controller 100.Corresponding to the received control signal, the controller 207controls each portion of the disc reproducing device 200.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a frame of data generated by the EFM andCIRC decoding circuit 206 and supplied to the controller 207 shown inFIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, one frame is composed of a synchronouspattern portion (24 channel bits), a sub coding portion (one symbol,namely 14 channel bits), a first data portion (12 symbols, namely 12×14channel bits), a first parity portion (4 symbols, namely 4×14 channelbits), a second data portion (12 symbols, namely 12×14 channel bits),and a second parity portion (four symbols, namely 4×14 channel bits). Inthis example, one frame contains three connection bits for connectingeach symbol (assuming that a synchronous pattern is a symbol composed of24 bits). Thus, the total number of connection bits are 34×3=102 channelbits. Consequently, one frame is composed of a total of 588 channelbits.

As shown in FIG. 5, 98 frames form one block of information composed offrame synchronous information, sub code information, and data and parityinformation (this block of information is referred to as sub codeframe). Sub code data of 98 frames represents sub code information ofone block. Next, with reference to FIG. 6, such a block will bedescribed. Sub codes of first frame F1 and second frame F2 are composedof fixed synchronous patterns S0=00100000000001 and S1=00000000010010,respectively. As S0 and S1, patterns which do not take place in an EFMmodulation are used. Thus, when data is reproduced, with the fixedsynchronous patterns S0 and S1, a start position of a block about subcode information is identified.

Sub codes of 96 frames of third frame F3, fourth frame F4, . . . , 97-thframe F97, and 98-th frame F98 are composed of P1, Q1, R1, S1, T1, U1,V1, and W1, P2 to W2, . . . , P95 to W95, and P96 to W96, respectively.Rows of P1, P2, . . . , and P96, Q1, Q2, . . . and Q96, R1 to R96, S1 toS96, T1 to T96, U1 to U96, V1 to V96, and W1 to W96 each form completeinformation channels.

Such sub code information contains (1) information with respect to suchas music program start position detection and programming reproductionfunction and (2) additional information such as text information. Asinformation (1), P channel and Q channel of sub codes are used. Asinformation (2), R channel to W channel are used. P channel represents apause between two music programs. P channel is used to coarsely detectthe beginning of a music program. In contrast, Q channel is used to morefinely control the detection of the music program start position.

FIG. 7 shows an example of contents of Q data. As shown in FIG. 8, Qdata is composed of a control portion, an address portion, a dataportion, and a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Code) portion.

The control portion is composed of four bits Q1 to Q4 in which datawhich identifies the number of audio channels, an emphasis, digitaldata, and so forth has been recorded.

The address portion is composed of four bits Q5 to Q8 in which a controlsignal which represents a data format and a data type of the dataportion which will be described later has been recorded.

The CRC portion is composed of 16 bits Q81 to Q96 in which data fordetecting an error with a cyclic code has been recorded.

As shown in FIG. 8, the data portion is composed of 72 bits Q9 to Q80.When the four-bit data of the address portion is “0001”, the dataportion (TOC (Table Of Contents)) of the lead-in area of the opticaldisc D has the structure shown in FIG. 9. In other words, as shown inFIG. 9, the data portion is composed of an MNR portion (music programnumber portion), a POINT portion, an MIN portion (elapsed time minutecomponent portion), a SEC portion (elapsed time second componentportion), a FRAME portion (elapsed time frame number portion), a ZEROportion, a PMIN portion (absolute time minute component portion), a PSEC(absolute time second component portion), and a PFRAME portion (absolutetime frame number portion). Each of these portions is composed ofeight-bit data.

Each of the MNR portion, the MIN portion, the SEC portion, the FRAMEportion, and the ZERO portion are fixed to “00” in hexadecimal notation.Thus, all eight bits of each of these portions are “0”.

When the POINT portion is “A0” in hexadecimal notation, the PMIN portionrepresents the first music program number or the first movement number.When the POINT portion is “A1” in hexadecimal notation, the PMIN portionrepresents the last music program number or the last movement number.When the POINT portion is “A2” in hexadecimal notation, the PMIN portion(absolute time minute component portion), the PSEC portion (absolutetime second component portion), and the PFRAME portion (absolute timeframe number portion) represent absolute time (PTIME) at which thelead-out area starts.

When the POINT portion is represented in two-digit BCD, the PMIN portion(absolute time minute component portion), the PSEC portion (absolutetime second component portion), and the PFRAME portion (absolute timeframe number portion) represent an address in absolute time (PTIME) atwhich a music program or a movement represented by their values starts.

In this example, the disc reproducing device 200 is a disc reproducingdevice which can load one optical disc. However, the disc reproducingdevice 200 may be a disc changer type reproducing device which can loada plurality of optical discs.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the structure of the HD recording andreproducing device 300 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention. The HD recording and reproducing device 300 is a device whichrecords and reproduces audio data and which records data and so forthfor managing audio data.

As shown in FIG. 9, the HD recording and reproducing device 300 iscomposed of a digital audio interface (hereinafter referred to asdigital audio I/F) 301, an AD/DA interface (hereinafter referred to asAD/DA I/F) 302, an encoding/decoding device 303, a magic gate coreportion 304, a shared RAM (Random Access Memory) 305, a HD controller306, an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 307, an FAT(File Allocation Table) file system 308, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive)309.

The digital audio I/F 301 is an interface for a digital audio signal.The digital audio I/F 301 supplies a digital audio signal supplied fromthe EFM and CIRC decoding circuit 206 of the disc reproducing device 200or a digital input terminal (which will be described later) of the audioinput and output portion 400 to the encoding/decoding device 303. Inaddition, the digital audio I/F 301 supplies a digital signal suppliedfrom the encoding/decoding device 303 to a digital output terminal(which will be described later) of the audio input and output portion400.

The AD/DA I/F 302 supplies a digital audio signal supplied from an A/Dconverter (which will be described later) of the audio input and outputportion 400 to the encoding/decoding device 303. In addition, the AD/DAI/F 302 supplies a digital audio signal supplied from theencoding/decoding device 303 to a DA converter 402 of the audio inputand output portion 400.

The encoding/decoding device 303 compresses a digital audio signalsupplied from the digital audio I/F 301 or the AD/DA I/F 302corresponding to ATRAC3 (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3) as a datacompressing system and supplies the compressed signal to the magic gatecore portion 304. The data compressing system according to the presentinvention is not limited to ATRAC3. In other words, MP3 (MPEG-1 audiolayer 3), WMA (Windows (registered trademark) Media Audio), AAC(Advanced Audio Coding), or TwinVQ (Transform-domain Weighted InterleaveVector Quantization) may be used.

In addition, the encoding/decoding device 303 decompresses data whichhas been compressed corresponding to ATRAC3 and supplied from the magicgate core portion 304 and supplies the decompressed data to the digitalaudio I/F 301 and/or the AD/DA I/F 302.

The magic gate core portion 304 encrypts audio data supplied from theencoding/decoding device 303 and supplies the encrypted data to theshared RAM 305. The magic gate is a function for encrypting a content(music) and mutually authenticating devices so as to protect copyrightof the content.

The shared RAM 305 stores digital audio data supplied from the magicgate core portion 304 and supplies the digital audio data to the HDcontroller 306. In addition, the shared RAM 305 stores digital audiodata supplied from the HD controller 306 and supplies the digital audiodata to the magic gate core portion 304.

The HD controller 306 is a microcomputer which controls each portion ofthe HD recording and reproducing device 300. For example, the HDcontroller 306 causes the encoding/decoding device 303 to start theATRAC3 encode or ATRAC3 decode. In addition, the HD controller 306causes the magic gate core portion 304 to start the encryption ordecryption. The HD controller 306 and the HDD 309 are connected throughan IDE (Integrated Device (Drive) Electronics) bus based on ATA (ATAttachment). Data is written and read through the bus using PIO(Programmable I/O) mode.

Whenever the magic gate core portion 304 encrypts one sound unit (foraround 23.2 msec), the HD controller 306 is interrupted by the sharedRAM 305. Whenever the HD controller 306 is interrupted, it transfersdata stored in the shared RAM 305 to the SDRAM 307. The data is furthertransferred to the HDD 309 through the FAT 32 file system 308 andrecorded as a music file to the HDD 309.

In addition, whenever the magic gate core portion 304 decrypts one soundunit, the HD controller 306 is interrupted by the shared RAM 305.Whenever the HD controller 306 is interrupted, it transfers the nextsound unit from the SDRAM 307 to the shared RAM 305.

The SDRAM 307 stores audio digital data supplied from the HDD 309 or theshared RAM 305.

The FAT 32 file system 308 is a file system which is used whenever theHD controller 306 reads data from the HDD 309 or writes data to the HDD309. The FAT 32 file system 308 is an essential system for managing datawritten to the HDD 309 as files. In this example, the FAT 32 file system308 is represented as a block of the HD recording and reproducing device300. In reality, the FAT 32 file system 308 is software attached to theHD controller 306. Unlike with other blocks, the HD controller 306 isnot a physical block. According to the embodiment of the presentinvention, the FAT 32 file system 308 is used as a file system.Alternatively, VFAT32 file system may be used as a file system.Likewise, NTFS (NT File System), HFS (Hierarchical File System), or HFSPlus may be used as a file system.

Data recorded in the HDD 309 is managed as files by the FAT 32 filesystem 308. Likewise, audio data and music management informationdatabase which will be described later are managed as files by the FAT32 file system 308. The FAT 32 file system 308 has system calls such asfile open, file close, file read, and file write necessary for operatingfiles.

The HDD 309 stores audio data and so forth. In reality, the HDD 309stores an album number management file, a reproduction time managementdatabase file, an album/track name database file, a TOC database file,an album reproduction management file, a music file, a play listmanagement file, and so forth. These files will be described later.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining a process for recording audiodata to the HD recording and reproducing device 300. When audio data isrecorded to the HD recording and reproducing device 300, the HDcontroller 306 creates a file on the HDD 309 using the FAT 32 filesystem 308.

First of all, the HD controller 306 creates a new file on the HDD 309using the FAT 32 file system 308 (at step S1).

Thereafter, the encoding/decoding device 303 compresses a digital audiosignal supplied from the audio input and output portion 400 through thedigital audio I/F 301 or the AD/DA I/F 302 under the control of the HDcontroller 306. The encoding/decoding device 303 compresses the digitalaudio signal corresponding to ATRAC3 compression coding technology insuch a manner that the digital audio signal is compressed in highquality and with high efficiency. The compressed signal is supplied tothe magic gate core portion 304 (at step S2).

Thereafter, the magic gate core portion 304 encrypts audio data whichhas been compressed corresponding to ATRAC3 under the control of the HDcontroller 306 and supplies the encrypted data to the shared RAM 305 (atstep S3).

Whenever the magic gate core portion 304 encrypts one sound unit, the HDcontroller 306 transfers data stored in the shared RAM 305 to the SDRAM307 (at step S4). Thereafter, the data is transferred to the HDD 309through the FAT 32 file system 308 and recorded as a file to the HDD 309(at step S5).

When audio data which corresponds to IEC 60958 and whose category is CDis recorded, by analyzing C bit and U bit of the audio data, the HDrecording and reproducing device 300 can record the audio data on theHDD 309 in the order of programs of the CD.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining a process for recording audiodata to the HD recording and reproducing device 300. When audio data isreproduced by the HD recording and reproducing device 300, the HDcontroller 306 opens music files recorded on the HDD 309 and reads datatherefrom.

First of all, the HD controller 306 opens user's desired file using theFAT 32 file system 308 (at step S11) and reads the opened file from theHDD 309 to the SDRAM 307 (at step S12).

Thereafter, wherever the magic gate core portion 304 decrypts one soundunit, the HD controller 306 transfers one sound unit from the SDRAM 307to the shared RAM 305 (at step S13).

Thereafter, the magic gate core portion 304 decrypts audio data suppliedfrom the HD controller 306 through the shared RAM 305 and supplies thedecrypted audio data to the encoding/decoding device 303 (at step S14).

Thereafter, the encoding/decoding device 303 decompresses audio datasupplied from the magic gate core portion 304 and supplies thedecompressed audio data to the audio input and output portion 400through the digital audio I/F 301 or the AD/DA I/F 302 (at step S15).

The HD recording and reproducing device 300 according to the embodimentof the present invention provides 500 files called albums which group aplurality of music programs (tracks). In addition, the HD recording andreproducing device 300 provides 10 files called play lists which collectany tracks recorded on the HDD 309. An album is a file which storesrecorded music programs, whereas a play list is a file linked to musicprograms (tracks) which an album stores, namely, not a file which storesentities of music files.

The number of files which can be recorded in one album is 400 (musicprograms). This limit applies to a play list. Thus, the HD recording andreproducing device 300 can store up to 200,000 music programs (500albums×400 tracks). However, in the dubbing apparatus of which the discreproducing device 200 and the HD recording and reproducing device 300are integrated, the number of music program which can be reproduced andrecorded is limited to 20,000 so that they can be comfortably reproducedand recorded.

FIG. 12 is a tree chart showing the structure of files stored in the HDD309. Music files and database files for managing music files are storedunder HiFi directory which is stored under a root directory. Under HiFidirectory, album number management file Pblist.msf referred to as albumplayback list (hereinafter simply abbreviated as Pblist) (16 kB) whichrepresents the reproduction order of 500 albums. In Pblist, file numbersof reproduction management files of 500 albums are described. Inaddition to Pblist, under HiFi directory, album/track name database fileNamedb.msf which is a database of album names, track names, and artistnames of all albums and all tracks (hereinafter this database isabbreviated as Namedb), reproduction time management database filePlaytime.msf which is a database of reproduction times of all tracks(hereinafter this database is abbreviated as Playtime), and TOC databasefile Tocdb.msf which stores TOC of an optical disc for a synchronousrecording with the disc reproducing device 200 and assigns a name to analbum or a track using a service such as CDDB (Compact Disc Data Base)(hereinafter this file is abbreviated as Tocdb) are stored. DirectoryAlbum000 stored under HiFi directory stores album reproductionmanagement files Pb000001.msf to Pb0001f4.msf (abbreviated as Pb000000)referred to as playback lists which store data such as the total numberof tracks, an album name, a program reproduction order, an albumhighlight of each of 500 albums.

100 directories Album001 to Album100 stored under HiFi directory storerecorded music files. Since up to 20,000 music files can be created, ifthey are stored in the same directory, the FAT 32 file system 308 takesa long time to search for the location of a designated file. To shortenthe search time, it is effective to distribute those music files to manydirectories. Because of such a reason, recorded music files have beendistributed to 100 directories Album 001 to Album100. Each music file isassigned file name A3dxxxxx.msa (hereinafter abbreviated as A3dxxxxx).Sequence numbers are assigned from the first track to max. 20,000-thtracks.

The last directory stored under HiFi directory is Playlist directorywhich stores play list management files Pb0001f5 to Pb0001fe whichaccomplish the forgoing play list function.

FIG. 13 shows the structure of album number management file Pblist.FIGS. 14A and 14B show a header and other portions which compose albumnumber management file Pblist, respectively. Album number managementfile Pblist has a size of one cluster (one block=16 kB). The headershown in FIG. 14A is composed of 32 bytes. In the other portions(non-header portions) shown in FIG. 14B, table Alb-nnn for managing thereproduction order of albums and a part of information of the header arerecorded. Positions of the beginnings of these different data portionsin the reproduction management file have been defined.

As shown in FIG. 14A, the first 32 bytes (0x0000) and (0x0010) of thealbum number management file is the header. A unit of 16 bytes delimitedfrom the beginning of the file is referred to as slot. The header in thefirst and second slots of the file contains data portions which have thefollowing meanings, functions, and values. A data portion denoted by“Reserved” represents an undefined data portion. Null (0x00) is normallywritten to a reserved data portion. However, any data described in areserved data portion is ignored. In a future version, a reserved dataportion may be changed. No data is permitted to be written to a reserveddata portion.

BLKID-TL0 (Four Bytes)

Meaning: BLOCKID FILE ID

Function: A value for identifying the beginning of the album numbermanagement file.

Value: Fixed value=“TL=0” (for example, 0x544C2D30)

REVISION (Four Bytes)

Meaning: The number of times of which Pblist has been rewritten

Function: Increments the value whenever the album number management fileis rewritten.

Value: Starts with 0 and increments by +1.

T-ABLE (Two Bytes)

Meaning: TOTAL NUMBER OF TRACKS

Function: Total number of albums

Value: 1 to 512 (including play lists).

When there is no data, the value is all zeros.

Alb-nnn

Meaning: SQN (Sequence) number of an album which is reproduced

Function: Describes a file number of each album reproduction managementfile Pbxxxxxx.msf.

Value: 1 to 512. When there is no data, the value is all zeros.

FIG. 15 shows the structure of the album reproduction management file.FIG. 16 shows the structure of an ATRAC3 data file of one file (musicprogram). The album reproduction management file is a file having a 16kB fixed length. An ATRAC3 data file is created in the unit of a musicprogram and is composed of an attribute header and encrypted audio datawhich are stored in the order. The attribute header also has a 16 kBfixed length. The attribute header has a structure similar to the albumreproduction management file.

The album reproduction management file shown in FIG. 15 is composed of aheader, area NM1-S for storing an album name of a one-byte characterstring, area NM2-S for storing an album name of a two-byte characterstring, reproduction program order table TRKTBL, and additionalinformation INF-S. The attribute header shown in FIG. 16 at thebeginning of a data file is composed of a header, music program name NM1of a one-byte code, music program name MN2 of a two-byte code, trackinformation TRAKINF such as key information of the track, partinformation PRTINF, and additional information INF of the track. Theheader contains the total number of parts, an attribute of a name, andinformation such as a size of additional information.

The attribute header is followed by ATRAC3 audio data which is dividedinto 16-kB blocks. A header is placed at the beginning of each block.Each header contains an initial value with which encrypted data isdecrypted. Only audio data of an ATRAC3 data file has been encrypted.The other data such as the reproduction management file and header havenot been encrypted.

Next, with reference to FIG. 16, the relation between a music programand an ATRAC3 data file will be described. One track means one musicprogram. One music program is composed of one ATRAC3 data file (see FIG.16). An ATRAC3 data file is audio data which has been compressedcorresponding to ATRAC3. Audio data is recorded as clusters to the HDD309. One cluster has a capacity of for example 16 kB. One cluster doesnot contain a plurality of files.

One music program is basically composed of one part. However, when amusic program has been edited, it may be composed of a plurality ofparts. A part means a unit of data recorded in a successive time periodafter the start of the recording until the stop of the recording.Normally, one track is composed of one part. The sequence of parts ofeach music program is managed with part information PRTINF of theattribute header of the music program. In other words, the part size isrepresented with part size PRTSIZE which is four-byte data in PRTINF.The first two bytes of part size PRTSIZE represents the total number ofclusters of the part. The other two bytes represent the location of thebeginning sound unit (hereinafter abbreviated as SU) and the location ofthe last SU of the beginning cluster and the last cluster, respectively.With such a part notation, audio data can be edited without need to movea large amount of audio data. When audio data is edited in the unit of ablock, the audio data can be prevented from being largely moved.However, one block is much larger than one SU as an editing unit.

One SU is the minimum unit of a part. In addition, one SU is the minimumdata unit of audio data which is compressed corresponding to ATRAC3.When audio data of 1024 samples (1024×16 bits×2 channels) obtained at asampling frequency of 44.1 kHz is compressed at a compression rate of10, data of several hundred bytes is obtained. This data is one SU. OneSU is equivalent to a time period of around 23 msec. Normally, one partis composed of several thousand SUs. When one cluster is composed of 42SUs, one cluster represents a sound for one second. The number of partswhich compose one track depends on the size of additional information.The number of parts depends on the header, music program name, and dataof additional information, and so forth contained in one block. Thus,when one block does not contain additional information, a maximum numberof parts (645 parts) can be used.

FIG. 17A shows the structure of files in the case that audio data of twomusic programs are successively recorded from a CD. Referring to FIG.17A, a first music program (file 1) is composed of for example fiveclusters. Since one cluster cannot contain two files, file 2 is createdfrom the beginning of the next cluster. Thus, the end of part 1corresponding to file 1 (the end of the first music program) is in themiddle of a cluster. No data is present in the remaining portion of thecluster. Likewise, the second music program (file 2) is composed of onepart. In the case of file 1, the part size is 5, SU of the beginningcluster is 0, and the end cluster is 4.

There are six types of track editing operations which are track dividingoperation, track combining operation, track erasing operation, trackmoving operation, track name assigning operation, and track artist nameassigning operation. When the track dividing operation is performed, onetrack is divided into two portions. When one track is divided, the totalnumber of tracks is increased by 1. When the track dividing operation isperformed, one file is divided into two portions on the file system andthe reproduction management file and FAT are updated. When the trackcombining operation is performed, two tracks are combined to one track.When two tracks are combined to one track, the total number of tracks isdecreased by one. When the track combining operation is performed, twofiles are combined to one file on the file system and the reproductionmanagement file and FAT are updated. When the track erasing operation isperformed, a track is erased. When the track erasing operation isperformed, the track numbers of tracks after the erased track aredecreased by one each. When the track moving operation is performed, theorder of tracks is changed. When each of the track erasing operation andthe track moving operation is performed, the reproduction managementfile and FAT are updated. When the track name assign operation isperformed, a track name is assigned to a track. When the track artistname assigning operation is performed, an artist name is assigned to atrack.

FIG. 17B shows a combined result of which two music programs (file 1 andfile 2) shown in FIG. 17A are combined. When the two music programs arecombined, one file is created. The file is composed of two parts. FIG.17C shows a divided result of which one music program (file 1) isdivided in the middle of cluster 2. When the music program is divided,file 1 which is composed of clusters 0 and 1 and a beginning portion ofcluster 2 and file 2 which is composed of a last portion of cluster 2and clusters 3 an 4 are created.

As was described above, according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, since the part describing method can be used, in the combinedresult shown in FIG. 17B, the start position of part 1, the end positionof part 1, the start position of part 2, and the end position of part 2can be defined in the unit of one SU. As a result, it is not necessaryto fill in a space as the combined result with audio data of part 2which is moved. Likewise, since the part describing method can be used,it is not necessary to fill in a space at the beginning of file 2 as thecombined result with data which is moved.

In addition, as album editing operations, album erasing operation, albummoving operation, album name assigning operation, album artist nameassigning operation, and so forth have been defined. When the albumerasing operation is performed, an album is erased. When an album iserased, the album numbers of albums after the erased album are deceasedby 1. When the album moving operation is performed, the order of albumsis changed. When each of the album erasing operation and the albummoving process is performed, the album number management file and FATare updated. When the album name assigning operation is performed, analbum name is assigned to an album. When the album artist name assigningoperation is performed, an album artist name is assigned to an album.

FIG. 18 shows detailed data structure of the album reproductionmanagement file. FIGS. 19A and 19B show a header and other portionswhich compose the album reproduction management file, respectively. Thealbum reproduction management file has a size of one cluster (oneblock=16 kB). The header shown in FIG. 19A is composed of 32 bytes. Theother portions (non-header portions) shown in FIG. 12B contain nameNM1-S (256 bytes), name NM2-S (512 bytes), CONTENTSKEY, C_MAC[0],S-YMDhms, table TRKTBL (800 bytes) for managing the reproduction orderof music programs, additional information INF-S (14720 bytes), and dataportions of the header (redundant data portions of the header).Positions of the beginnings of these different data portions in thereproduction management file have been defined.

As shown in FIG. 19A, the first 32 bytes (0x0000) and (0x0010) of thealbum number management file is the header. A unit of 16 bytes delimitedfrom the beginning of the file is referred to as slot. The header in thefirst and second slots of the file contains data portions which have thefollowing meanings, functions, and values. A data portion denoted by“Reserved” represents an undefined data portion. Null (0x00) is normallywritten to a reserved data portion. However, any data described in areserved data portion is ignored. In a future version, a reserved dataportion may be changed. No data is permitted to be written to a reserveddata portion. A data portion denoted by Option is treated in the samemanner as a data portion denoted by Reserved.

BLKID-TL0 (Four Bytes)

Meaning: BLOCKED FILE ID

Function: A value for identifying the beginning of the albumreproduction management file.

Value: Fixed value=“TL=0” (for example, 0x544C2D30)

MCode (Two Bytes)

Meaning: MAKER CODE

Function: A code for identifying a maker and a model of a device whichhas recorded the file.

Value: High order 10 bits (maker code), low order six bits (model code)

REVISION (Four Bytes)

Meaning: The number of times of which the album reproduction managementfile has been rewritten

Function: Increments the value whenever the album reproductionmanagement file is rewritten

Value: Starts with 0 and increments by +1.

SN1C+L (two bytes)

Meaning: Represents an attribute of a title (one byte) of an albumwritten in NM1-S area.

Function: Represents a character code and a language code for use, onebyte each.

Value: High order one byte =character code (C), identifying charactersas follows:

00: No character code is set, but simply treated as a binary number

01: ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

02: ASCII+KANA 03: Modified 8859-1

81: MS-JIS 82: KS C 5601-1989

83: GB (Great Britain) 2312-80

90: S-JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) (for voice)

Low order one byte=language code (L), identifying languagescorresponding to EBU Tech 3258 standards as follows:

00: Not set 08: German 09: English 0A: Spanish 0F: French 15: Italian1D: Dutch 65: Korean 69: Japanese 75: Chinese

When there is no data, all zeros should be set.

SN2C+1 (Two Bytes)

Meaning: Represents an attribute of a title (two bytes) of an albumwritten in NM2-S area.

Function: Represents a character code and a language code for use, onebyte each.

Value: Same as SN1C+L.

SINFSIZE (Two Bytes)

Meaning: Represents the total size of all data portions of additionalinformation written in INF-S area.

Function: Describes data size in the unit of 16 bytes. When there is nodata, all zeros should be set.

Value: Size ranging from 0x0001 to 0x39C (924).

T-TRK (Two Bytes)

Meaning: TOTAL NUMBER OF TRACKS

Function: Represents the total number of tracks.

Value: 1 to 0x0190 (max. 400 tracks). When there is no data, all zerosshould be set.

Next, data groups (see FIG. 19B) preceded by the header will bedescribed.

NM1-S

Meaning: An area for storing an album name of a one-byte characterstring.

Function: Variable length name data represented with a one-bytecharacter code (max. 256)

Name data should be terminated with end code (0x00). The size should becalculated from the end code. When there is no data, null (0x00) shouldbe recoded for at least one byte from the beginning (0x0020).

Value: Various types of character codes. NM2-S

Meaning: An area for storing an album name of two-byte character stringFunction: Variable length name data represented with a two-bytecharacter code (max. 512).

The name data should be terminated with end code (0x00). The size shouldbe calculated from the end code. When there is no data, null (0x00)should be recorded for at least two bytes from the beginning (0x0120).

Value: Various types of character codes

CONTENTS Key

Meaning: Value assigned for each music program. After the value ofCONTENTS KEY is protected with MG (R), the value is stored. Same asCONTENTS KEY assigned to the first music program.

Function: A key necessary for calculating MAC of S-YMDhms.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

MAC

Meaning: Copyright falsification check value.

Function: A value created with the content of S-YMDhms and CONTENTS KEY.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

TRK-nnn

Meaning: SQN (Sequence) number of ATRAC3 data file which is reproduced.

Function: Describes FNo of TRKINF.

Value: 1 to 400 (0x190).

When there is no track, all zeros should be set.

INF-S

Meaning: Album additional information (additional information forexample an artist name and so forth)

Function: Variable length additional information data having a header.

A plurality of types of additional information groups may be described.Each of them is assigned an ID and a data size. Each additionalinformation data portion containing a header is composed of at least 16bytes which is a multiple of four bytes. The details will be describedlater.

Value: see data structure of additional information.

S-YMDhms (Four Bytes) (Option)

Meaning: Year, month, day, hour, minute, and second recorded by a devicewhich has a reliable clock.

Function: A value for identifying the last record date and time. Thisdata portion is essential in EMD.

Value: Bits 25 to 31=year 0 to 99 (1980 to 2079)

-   -   Bits 21 to 24=month 0 to 12    -   Bits 16 to 20=day 0 to 31    -   Bits 11 to 15=hour 0 to 23    -   Bits 05 to 10=minute 0 to 59    -   Bits 00 to 04=second 0 to 29 (unit of two bits)

In the last slot of the album reproduction management file, BLKID-TL0,MCode, and REVISION which are the same as those of the header arestored.

When a commercial audio device is used, while data is being written to amemory card, it may be removed from the device or the power thereof maybe turned off. Thus, after the audio device has recovered from such astate, the device should detect an occurrence thereof. To do that, aswas described above, REVISION is written at the beginning and end ofeach block. Whenever the value of this data portion is rewritten, it isincremented by +1. If an abnormal termination takes place in the middleof one block, since the value of REVISION at the beginning of the blockdoes not match that at the end of the block, the device can detect anoccurrence of the abnormal termination. Since there are two dataportions of REVISION, the device can detect an occurrence of theabnormal termination with high probability. When the device has detectedan occurrence of the abnormal termination, the device generates an alarmsuch as an error message.

In addition, since fixed value BLKID-TL has been inserted into abeginning portion of one block (16 kB), if FAT of the HDD 309 has beendestroyed, files can be restored with the fixed value. In other words,with the fixed value at the beginning of each block, the type of thefile can be identified. In addition, fixed value BLKID-TL0 has beendually described in the header and the end portion of the block. Thus,the reliability of the block can be checked. Alternatively the samealbum reproduction management file may be dually recorded.

The data amount of a ATRAC3 data file is remarkably larger than that ofthe track information management file. As will be described later, blocknumber BLOCK SERIAL is assigned to an ATRAC3 data file. However, since aplurality of ATRAC3 data files are present in the HDD 309, they shouldbe identified with CONNUM0 and then assigned BLOCK SERIAL. Otherwise,ATRAC3 data files may not be uniquely identified. Thus, if FAT has beendestroyed, it is difficult to restore files. In other words, one ATRAC3data file may be composed of a plurality of blocks and distributed.Thus, to identify blocks which compose the same ATRAC3 data file,CONNUM0 is used. In addition, the ascending/descending order of theblocks of the same ATRAC3 data file is represented with block numberBLOCK SERIAL.

Likewise, maker code (MCode) has been recorded at the beginning and endof each block so that a maker and a model of a device which has recordedthe file can be identified when the file is improper due to an incorrectlogic although FAT has not been destroyed.

FIG. 19C shows the data structure of additional information. Thefollowing header is written at the beginning of additional information.The header is following by variable length data portions.

INF

Meaning: FIELD ID

Function: A fixed value representing the beginning of data of additionalinformation.

Value: 0x69

ID

Meaning: Key code of additional information

Function: Represents a category of additional information.

Value: 0 to 0xFF.

SIZE

Meaning: Size of individual additional information portion

Function: Free data size, but a multiple of four bytes. Min. 16 bytes.The last space of SIZE should be filled with null (0x00).

Value: 16 to 14784 (0x39C0)

MCode

Meaning: MAKER CODE

Function: A code for identifying a maker and a model of a device whichhas recorded the file.

Value: High order 10 bits (maker code); low order six bits (model code).

C+L

Meaning: Represents an attribute of characters written in a data areawhich starts with 12-th byte.

Function: Represents a character code and a language code for use, onebyte each.

Value: Same as SNC+L.

DATA

Meaning: Individual data of additional information

Function: Represents variable length data. The beginning of entity dataalways starts with 12-th byte. The length (size) of DATA is min. fourbytes, but a multiple of four bytes. A last space of DATA should befilled with null (0x00).

Value: Individually defined depending on contents.

FIG. 20 shows a data arrangement of ATRAC3 data file A3Dnnnn in the casethat one SU is composed of N bytes (for example N=384 bytes). FIG. 20shows an attribute header (one block) of a data file and an audio datafile (one block. FIG. 20 shows beginning bytes (0x0000 to 0x7FF0) ofslots of two blocks (16×2=32 kbytes). FIG. 21 is an enlarged viewshowing the attribute header. As shown in FIG. 21, the first 32 bytes ofthe attribute header is a header portion. 256 bytes of the attributeheader is music program name area NM1 (256 bytes). 512 bytes of theattribute header is music program name area NM2 (512 bytes). Thefollowing data portions are contained in the header portion of theattribute header.

BLKID-HD0 (Four Bytes)

Meaning: BLOCKID FIELD ID

Function: A value for identifying the beginning of a ATRAC3 data file.

Value: Fixed value=“HD=0” (for example, 0x48442D30).

MCode (Two Bytes)

Meaning: MAKER CODE

Function: A code for identifying a maker and a model of a device whichhas recoded the file.

Value: High order 10 bits (maker code); low order six bits (model code)

BLOCK SERIAL (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Serial number assigned for each track.

Function: The value of BLOCK SERIAL starts with 0 and increments by +1.Even if the track is edited, the value of BLOCK SERIAL is not changed.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFF

N1C+L (Two Bytes)

Meaning: Represents an attribute of data (MN1) of the track.

Function: Represents a character code and a language code used in NM1,one byte each.

Value: Same as SN1C+L.

N2C+L (Two Bytes)

Meaning: Represents an attribute of data (NM2) of the track (musicprogram name).

Function: Represents a character code and a language code for NM2, onebyte each.

Value: Same as SN1C+L.

INFSIZE (Two Bytes)

Meaning: Represents the total size of all data portions of additionalinformation about the track.

Function: Describes data size with a multiple of 16 bytes. When there isno data, all zeros should be set.

Value: Size ranging from 0x0000 to 0x3C6 (966).

T-PRT (Two Bytes)

Meaning: total number of parts

Function: Represents the total number of parts which composes the track.Normally, the value of T-PRT is 1.

Value: 1 to 0x285 (645 dec)

T-SU (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Total number of SUs

Function: Represents the total number of SUs in one track and isequivalent to a play time of one music program.

Value: 0x01 to 0x001FFFFF.

INX (Two Bytes) (Option)

Meaning: Relative location of INDEX.

Function: A pointer which represents the beginning of a featured portionof a music program. Designates the position of the featured portion fromthe beginning of the music program with a value of which the number ofSUs is divided by 4. The value of INX is equivalent to a time period forthe length of which the number of SUs is multiplied by four (around 93msec).

Value: 0 to 0xFFFF (max. around 6084 sec). XT (two bytes) (Option)

Meaning: Reproduction time period of INDEX

Function: Designates a time period from the beginning designated byINX-nnn with a value of which the number of SUs is divided by 4. Thevalue of XT is equivalent to a time period for the length of which thenumber of SUs is multiplied by 4 (around 93 msec).

Value: 0x0000: Not set 0x01 to 0xFFFE (max. 6084 sec). 0xFFFF: Up to theend of the music program.

Next, music program name areas NM1 and NM2 will be described.

NM1

Meaning: Character string which represents a music program name

Function: Variable length music program name represented with a one-bytecharacter code (max. 256). The name data should be terminated with endcode (0x00). The size should be calculated from the end code. When thereis no data, null (0x00) should be recorded for at least one byte fromthe beginning (0x0020).

Value: various types of character codes. NM2

Meaning: Character string which represents a music program name.

Function: variable length name data represented with a two-bytecharacter code (max. 5120. The name data should be terminated with endcode (0x00). The size should be calculated from the end code. When thereis no data, null (0x00) should be recorded for at least two bytes fromthe beginning (0x0120).

Value: Various types of character codes

Data of 80 bytes started from the fixed position (0x320) of theattribute header is called track information area TRKINF. In the area,information with respect to security and copy control is totallymanaged. FIG. 22 shows a data group of TRKINF. Next, the data group ofTRKINF will be successively described.

CONTENTS KEY (Eight Bytes)

Meaning: Value assigned for each music program. After the value ofCONTENTS KEY is protected with MG (R), the value is stored.

Function: A key which is initially required when a music program isreproduced. The value of CONTENTS KEY is used when MAC is calculated.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

C_MAX[0] (Eight Bytes)

Meaning: Copyright information falsification check value

WM

Meaning: Water Mark

Function: Represents a water mark state of a content.

A (On Byte)

Meaning: Attribute of a part

Function: Represents information such as compression mode of a part.

Value: Next, the value of A will be described with reference to FIG. 23.

When N of bits 6, 5, and 4=0 or 1 (monaural) and bit 7=1, a specialjoint mode is defined as monaural with sub signal=0 and mainsignal=(L+R). A regular player (reproducing device) can ignoreinformation of bits 2 and 1.

Bit 0 of A represents information about emphasis on/off. Bit 1 of Arepresents information about reproduction skip or normal reproduction.Bit 2 of A represents information about data type for example audio dataor other type data such as FAX. Bit 3 of A is undefined. As shown inFIG. 23, bits 4, 5, and 6 defines information about ATRAC3 mode. Inother words, N is a three-bit value representing five modes about recordtime period, data transfer rate, and number of SUs per block. Thesemodes are monaural (N=0, 1), LP (N=2), SP (N=4), EX (N=5), and HQ (N=7).The number of bytes of one SU is (monaural: 136 bytes, LP: 192 bytes,SP: 304 bytes, EX: 384 bytes, HQ: 512 bytes). Bit 7 of A represents amode about ATRAC3 (0: Dual, 1: Joint).

LT (One Byte)

Meaning: Reproduction restriction flag (bit 7 and bit 6) and securityversion (bit 5 to bit 0).

Function: Represents a restriction item with respect to the currenttrack.

Value:

bit 7: 0=not restricted, 1=restricted

bit 6: 0=not expired, 1=expired

bit 5 to bit 0: security version 0 (Unless the security version is 0,the track is prohibited from being reproduced.)

FNo (Two Bytes)

Meaning: File number

Function: A track number of a file which has been recorded at first. Thevalue of FNo identifies the location of a value which is used forcalculating MAC and which is recorded in a hidden area of a memory card.

Value: 1 to 0x190 (400)

MG (D) SERIAL-nnn (16 Bytes)

Meaning: Serial number of a security block (security IC 20) of arecording device

Function: A unique value assigned to each recording device.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF FFFFFFF

CONNUM (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Content cumulative number.

Function: A unique value cumulated for each music program. This value ismanaged by a security block of a recording device. 2³², which is420,000,000, recorded music programs can be identified.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFF

YMDhms-S (Four Bytes) (Option)

Meaning: Reproduction start date and time of a track which has beenreproduction restricted.

Function: Date and time on and at which reproduction start designated byEMD is permitted.

Value: Same as the forgoing notation for date and time.

YMDhms-E (Four Bytes) (Option)

Meaning: Reproduction end date and time of a track which has beenreproduction restricted

Function: Date and time on and at which reproduction permissiondesignated by EMD is expired.

Value: Same as the forgoing notation for date and time.

MT (One Byte) (Option)

Meaning: Maximum value of the permitted number of times of a reproducingoperation

Function: The maximum number of times of the reproducing operationdesignated by EMD

Value: 0 to 0xFF. When MT is not used, 0x00 is set. When the value ofbit 7 of LT is 0, 00 should be set.

CT (One Byte) (Option)

Meaning: Number of times of a reproducing operation

Function: The number of times of which a reproducing operation can beactually performed in the permitted number of times of a reproducingoperation. The value of CT is decremented whenever a reproducingoperation is performed.

Value: 0x00 to 0xFF. When CT is not used, 0x00 is set. When bit 7 of LTis 1 and the value of CT is 00, the reproducing operation should beprohibited.

CC (One Byte)

Meaning: COPY CONTROL

Function: Controls a copying operation.

Value: Next, the value of CC will be described with reference to FIG.24. Bits 6 and 7 of CC represent copy control information. Bits 4 and 5of CC represent copy control information with respect to a high speeddigital copy. Bits 2 and 3 of CC represent an authentication level of asecurity block. Bits 0 and 1 of CC are undefined. Examples of the valueof CC:

(bits 7 and 6) 11: permits an unrestricted copy; 01: prohibits a copy;00: permits a copy one time. (bits 3 and 2) 00: records a file fromanalog/digital-in. MG authentication level is 0. When a file isdigitally recorded from a CD, (bits 7 and 6) is 00 and (bits 3 and 2) is00.

CN (One Byte) (Option)

Meaning: Permitted number of times of a copying operation in a highspeed digital copy HSCMS (High speed Serial Copy Management System)

Function: An extension of identification of a copying operation oncetime or a copying operation free. Designates the number of times of acopying operation. CN is valid only for the first copy generation. Thevalue of CN is decremented by 1 whenever a copying operation isperformed.

Value: 00: prohibits a copying operation; 01 to 0xFE: permitted numberof times of a copying operation; 0xFF: freely permits a copyingoperation.

The forgoing track information area TRKINF is followed by a data groupof 24 bytes starting from 0x0370. This data group is referred to as partinformation area PRTINF for managing parts. When one track is composedof a plurality of parts, data groups PRTINF are arranged in thechronological order. FIG. 25 shows a data group of PRTINF. Next, thedata group of PRTINF will be successively described.

PRTSIZE (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Part size

Function: Represents the size of a part. cluster: two bytes (mostsignificant two bytes), beginning SU: one byte (high order one byte),end SU: one byte (least significant one byte)

Value: cluster: 1 to 0x1F40 (8000), beginning SU: 0 to 0xA0 (160), endSU: 0 to 0xA0 (160)) (Note that SUs are counted from 0).

PRTKEY (Eight Bytes)

Meaning: Value for encrypting a part.

Function: initial value=0 When a part is edited, the editing rulesshould be applied.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

CONNUM0 (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Content cumulative number key which has been initially created.

Function: A role of ID for uniquely identifying a content.

Value: Same value as content cumulative number initial value key

The attribute header of an ATRAC3 data file contains additionalinformation INF as shown in FIG. 20. Except that the start position ofthe additional information is not fixed, it is the same as theadditional information INF-S (see FIGS. 18 and 19B) of the albumreproduction management file. The last byte portion (a multiple of fourbytes) of one or a plurality of parts is immediately followed by data ofadditional information INF.

INF

Meaning: Data of addition information with respect to a track.

Function: Variable length data of additional information having aheader. A plurality of groups of additional information may be arranged.Each group of additional information contains an ID and a data size.Each group of additional information contains a header and is composedof min. 16 bytes which is a multiple of four bytes.

Value: Same as additional information INF-S of the reproductionmanagement file.

The forgoing attribute header is followed by data of each block of anATRAC3 data file. As shown in FIG. 26, each block contains a header.Next, a data group of each block will be described.

BLKID-A3D (Four Bytes)

Meaning: BLOCKID FILE ID

Function: A value for identifying the beginning of ATRAC3 data.

value: fixed value=“A3D” (for example, 0x41334420)

MCode (Two Bytes)

Meaning: MAKER CODE

Function: a code for identifying a maker and a model of a device whichhas recorded the file.

Value: High order 10 bits (maker code); low order six bits (model code)

CONNUM0 (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Content cumulative number which has been initially created.

Function: A role of ID for uniquely identifying a content. The value ofCONNUM0 is not changed when the content is edited.

Value: Same value as content cumulation number initial value key

BLOCK SERIAL (Four Bytes)

Meaning: Serial number assigned to each track

Function: The value of BLOCK SERIAL starts with 0 and increments by +1.Even if the rack is edited, the value of BLOCK SERIAL is not changed.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFF

BLOCK-SEED (Eight Bytes)

Meaning: One key for encrypting one block.

Function: Assigns a random number generated by a security block of arecording device to the beginning block, increments the generated randomnumber by +1, assigns the incremented random number to the next block,and so forth. When the value of BLOCK-SEED is lost, no sound is outputfor around one second equivalent to one block. To prevent that, the samevalue is written to the header and the end of the block. Even if thetrack is edited, the value of BLOCK-SEED is not changed.

Value: A random number of eight bytes (initial value)

INITIALIZATION VECTOR (Eight Bytes)

Meaning: Initial value necessary for encrypting and decrypting eachblock of ATRAC3 data.

Function: When the current block is the beginning block, the value ofINITIALIZATION VECTOR is 0. When the current block is the next block,the value of INITIALIZATION VECTOR is the last eight bytes of the end SUwhich has been encrypted. When the current block is a divided block, thevalue of INITIALIZATION VECTOR is the last eight bytes of the beginningSU. Even if the track is edited, the value of INITIALIZATION VECTOR isnot changed.

Value: 0 to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

SU-nnn

Meaning: Data of sound unit

Function: Data of which 1024 samples have been compressed. The number ofoutput bytes varies depending on the compression mode. Even if the trackis edited, the value of SU-nnn is not changed (for example, in the SPmode, N=384 bytes).

Value: A data value of ATRAC3

In FIG. 20, since N=384, 42 SUs are written in one block. The first twoslots (four bytes) of one block are a header. In the last one slot (twobytes), BLKID-A3D, MCode, CONNUM0, and BLOCK SERIAL are dually written.Thus, the remaining M bytes of one block are (16,384−384×42−16×3=208bytes). In the remaining area, as was described above, BLOCK SEED ofeight bites is dually recorded.

Using the forgoing album number management file, album reproductionmanagement file, and music file, the album reproduction order of 1 to500 albums, music program (track) reproduction order of each album, arecordable track, an album name of each album, a track name of eachtrack, an artist name of each of albums/tracks, a total play time ofeach album, and a play time of each track can be obtained. However, toactually obtain them, it is necessary to open and read each file storedin the HDD 309. As a result, a comfortable operating environment cannotbe achieved as a system. Thus, the forgoing information is formed as adatabase. To allow the user to quickly obtain his or her desiredinformation, besides the forgoing files, album/track name database fileNamedb and reproduction time management database file Playtime have beencreated under HiFi directory. Next, these files will be described.

FIG. 27 shows the structure of album/track name database file Namedb.Namedb is a file for searching Pblist, Pbxxxxxx, name fields NM1 and MN2of A3dxxxxx, and additional information INF (artist name) for a desiredname (album name, music program name, or artist name) at high speed.Only names have been recoded in album/track name database file Namedb.Namedb is composed of nine album name blocks and 323 music program nameblocks, 16 kB each.

Each block (16 kB) is composed of one BLK record (eight bytes, fixed)and 62 name records (264 bytes, fixed (62 records)). Thus, 558 (=62×9)name records of album name blocks can be recorded. However, according tothe embodiment of the present invention, only 510 name records arevalidated. The other name records are treated as invalid data (0x00,fixed). On the other hand, 20,0026 (=323×62) name records of musicprogram name blocks can be recorded. Likewise, according to theembodiment of the present invention, only 20,0000 name records arevalidated. The other name records are treated as invalid data (0x00,fixed). The file size is 332 blocks×16384 (16 kB)=5439488 bytes (5312kB).

FIG. 28 shows the structure of a BLK record. BLK-ID (four bytes) of analbum name block is “ANMO” which is a fixed character string. BLK-ID(four bytes) of a program name block is “TNMO” which is a fixedcharacter string. Block serial number (four bytes) is a serial numberstarting with 1.

FIG. 29 shows the structure of a name record. Name records are recordedin the order of album file numbers 1 to 500 and program file numbers 1to 20000. When the album/program file number of a name record is 0, itis treated as invalid data.

FIG. 30 shows the structure of reproduction time management databasefile Playtime.msf. Playtime is a file for obtaining the total play timeof each album at high speed. This file contains a play time for eachmusic program. In addition, the file contains an index corresponding toTOC information of a TOC database (which will be described later) andTNO. Playtime is composed of 15 blocks (16 kB, each).

Each block (16 kB) is composed of one BLK record (eight bytes, fixed),1365 TRK records (12 bytes, fixed) (1365)), and a reserved record (fourbytes, fixed (0x00 fixed)). Thus, 20475 (=1365×15) TRK records can berecorded. However, according to the embodiment of the present invention,up to 20,000 TRK records are validated. The other TRK records aretreated as invalid data (0x00, fixed). The file size of Playtime is 15blocks×16384=245760 bytes (240 kB).

FIG. 31 shows the structure of a BLK record portion of the format of arecord. BLK-ID is “TRKO” which a fixed character string. Block serialnumber is a sequence number starting with 1.

FIG. 32 shows the structure of a TRK record. TRK records are recorded inthe order of music program file numbers 1 to 20000. When the album filenumber of a TRK record is 0, it is treated as invalid data. Since noalbum file number is set in a play list, the total play time of a playlist can be calculated by obtaining TRK records from reproduction orderfile numbers of Pbnnnnnn.MSF (nnnnnn: 0001F5 to 0001FE).

In the dubbing apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, a synchronous recording operation can be performed from thedisc reproducing device 200 as a source to the HD recording andreproducing device 300 as a destination. Before the synchronousrecording operation is started, the HD recording and reproducing device300 requests the disc reproducing device 200 to transmit TOC data of aCD from which the disc reproducing device 200 will reproduce audio data.As another data requesting method, besides the system control signalshown in FIG. 1, an IEC 60958 audio signal may be input to the HDrecording and reproducing device 300. With the digital interface circuitof the HD recording and reproducing device 300, information contained inU bit of the audio signal may be analyzed. The TOC information of the CDas the source is stored in a database file. When a site from which CDinformation can be obtained is connected on the Internet, names ofalbums and tracks recorded on the HD recording and reproducing device300 are assigned. This role is performed using database file Tocdb.

FIG. 33 shows the structure of TOC database file Tocdb. TOC databasefile Tocdb is a file for assigning album names and track names to albumsand tracks recorded in the HD recording and reproducing device 300 usinga site of for example CDDB on the Internet. This file contains TOCinformation for searching CDDB or the like. The system controller 100accesses a site of CDDB on the Internet through an external device (forexample, a personal computer) connected to the external control signalinput and output portion 500.

File Tocdb is composed of 13 blocks (16 kB each). Each block (16 kB) iscomposed of a BLK record (eight bytes, fixed), ALBUM TOC records (412bytes, fixed (39 records)), and a reserved record (308 bytes, fixed(0x00)). Although up to 507 (=39×13) ALBUM TOC records can be recorded,according to the embodiment of the present invention, up to 500 ALBUMTOC records are validated. The other ALBUM TOC records are treated asinvalid data (0x00). The file size of Tocdb is 13 blocks×16384=212992bytes (208 kB).

FIG. 34 shows the structure of a block record. BLK-ID is “TOCO” which isa fixed character string. Block serial number is a serial numberstarting with 1. Album number is the number of ALBUM TOC records (1 to500).

FIG. 35 shows the structure of an Album TOC record. As shown in FIG. 35,an Album TOC record is composed of TOC DB IDX, use state, and TOCinformation.

FIG. 36 shows details of TOC information. As shown in FIG. 36, TOCinformation is composed of Trk No. (one byte), AMIN (one byte), ASEC(one byte), and AFRAME (one byte). Trk No. is a track number rangingfrom 1 to 20000. AMIN, ASEC, and AFRAME are an absolute time minutecomponent, an absolute time second component, and an absolute time framenumber of a track corresponding to a track number recoded in Trk No,respectively.

There is a relation between an ALBUM TOC record of Tocdb and a TRKrecord portion (TOCDB IDX and TOC TNO) of Playtime. In other words, withtrack information of Playtime, the relation between tracks and TNOs ofTOCs of Tocdb can be obtained. Thus, even if an audio file is edited ordeleted, a correct music program name thereof can be obtained from CDDB.

As was described above, in the HD recording and reproducing device 300,editing operations can be performed. The editing operations includemusic program (track) dividing operation, music program (track)combining operation, music program (track) erasing operation, albumerasing operation, music program moving operation, album movingoperation, album name assigning operation, album artist name assigningoperation, music program (track) name assigning operation, and musicprogram (track) artist name assigning operation. Whenever an editingoperation has been performed, databases except for Tocdb are updated andmanaged so that there is no inconsistency between entities and thedatabases.

FIG. 37 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of theaudio input and output portion 400. As shown in FIG. 37, the audio inputand output portion 400 is composed of an A/D converter 401, a DAconverter 402, an analog input terminal 403, a digital input terminal404, a digital output terminal 405, and an analog output terminal 406.

The AD converter 401 converts an analog signal supplied from the analoginput terminal 403 into a serial signal which synchronizes with an LRclock and a bit clock and supplies the serial signal to the AD/DA I/F302 of the HD recording and reproducing device 300.

The DA converter 402 converts audio data supplied from the discreproducing device 200 or the HD recording and reproducing device 300(for example, audio data corresponding to IEC 60958 format) into analogdata and supplies the analog signal to the analog output terminal 406.The DA converter 402 not only outputs audio data, but mutes audio datacorresponding to a request issued from the disc reproducing device 200or the HD recording and reproducing device 300.

The analog input terminal 403 is a terminal for inputting an analogsignal. An analog signal which is supplied to the analog input terminal403 is supplied to the AD converter 401.

The digital input terminal 404 is a terminal for inputting a digitalsignal. A digital signal which is input to the digital input terminal404 is supplied to the digital audio I/F 301 of the HD recording andreproducing device 300.

When the HD recording and reproducing device 300 is in a recording mode,an audio signal which is input to the HD recording and reproducingdevice 300 is output as a monitor sound from the analog output terminal406 (which will be described later).

The digital output terminal 405 is a terminal for outputting a digitalaudio signal supplied from the digital audio I/F 301 of the HD recordingand reproducing device 300 to an external device or the like.

The analog output terminal 406 is a terminal for outputting an analogsignal supplied from the DA converter 402 to an external device or thelike.

The external control signal input and output portion 500 allows theexternal device (for example, a personal computer) and the dubbingapparatus to communicate with each other. The external control signalinput and output portion 500 is for example a USB (Universal Serial Bus)connector.

Next, a searching operation of the dubbing apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention will be described. In this example,assuming that albums 1 to 8 have been stored in the HD recording andreproducing device 300 as shown in FIG. 38, a searching operation willbe described.

FIG. 39 shows detailed information of album 8 shown in FIG. 38. FIG. 39shows track numbers, track names, artist names, and time periods ofhighlight portions.

FIG. 40 is a flow chart for explaining an album searching operation andprocess using an album name. In this example, albums stored in the HDrecording and reproducing device 300 are searched for albums having analbum name containing character string “P” and then highlight portionsof tracks of the obtained albums are reproduced.

When the controller 101 has received a search start request from theuser through the operating device 103, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “For album?” which prompts theuser to select album search (at step S101). When the controller 101 hasjudged that the selection key on the operating device 103 had beenpressed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaymessage “For Track?” which prompts the user to select track search (atstep S102).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the user hadselected album search, the controller 101 causes the display device 102to display message “By Title?” which prompts the user to select titlename search (at step S103). When the controller 101 has judged that theselection key of the operating device 103 had been pressed, thecontroller 101 causes the display device 102 to display message “ByArtist?” which prompts the user to select artist name search (at stepS104).

Thereafter, the controller 101 has judged that the enter key had beenpressed while message “By Title?” had been displayed, the controller 101causes the display device 102 to display message “keyword In” whichprompts the user to input a key word (at step S105).

Thereafter, while the user is browsing data displayed on the displaydevice 102, he or she operates the jog key of the operating device 103,inputs key word “P” for a search, and presses the enter key (at stepS106).

When the controller 101 has judged that the enter key had been pressed,the HD recording and reproducing device 300 references album/track namedatabase file Namedb.msf stored in the HDD 309 and searches the databasefile Namedb.msf for album title names containing the input key wordwhich has been input at step S106 (at step S107).

Thereafter, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaysearch result “1/2” and successively reproduces highlight portions oftracks of an album corresponding to the search result (at step S108).When the controller 101 has judged that the selection key had beenpressed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaysearch result “2/2” and successively reproduces highlight portions oftracks of an album corresponding to the search result (at step S109).Search results “1/2” and “2/2” displayed on the display device 102 areexamples in the case that there are two albums corresponding to the keyword.

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while search result “1/2” had beendisplayed on the display device 102, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “Album 2” which informs the userof an album number corresponding to search result “1/2” (at step S110).When the controller 101 has judged that the selection key had beenpressed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaymessage “Album 3” which informs the user of an album numbercorresponding to search result “2/2” (at step S111).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while message “Album 2” had been displayedon the display device 102, the controller 101 causes the display device102 to display message “Pornograffitti” which informs the user of analbum name corresponding to message “Album 2” (at step S112). When thecontroller 101 has judged that the selection key had been pressed, thecontroller 101 causes the display device 102 to display message “Masterof Puppets” which informs the user of an album name corresponding tomessage “Album 3” (at step S113).

If the album name of user's desired album is “Master of Puppets”, whenthe user presses the search end key at step S113, tracks of the albumare automatically and successively reproduced from the beginning.

After highlight portions of tracks of one album have been reproduced,the highlight portions are repeatedly reproduced from the beginning. Inother words, highlights of tracks of an album corresponding to the nextsearch result are not reproduced without user's operation.

In the forgoing example, when the search end key is pressed while analbum name is being displayed on the display device 102, tracks of analbum corresponding to the album name are successively reproduced fromthe beginning. Alternatively, when the search end key is pressed whilean album number is being displayed on the display device, tracks of analbum corresponding to the album number may be reproduced from thebeginning.

In addition, when the search end key is pressed while search result“1/2” or “2/2” is being displayed, tracks of an album corresponding tothe search result “1/2” or “2/2” may be reproduced from the beginning.

FIG. 41 is a flow chart for explaining a track searching operation andprocess using an artist name. In this example, it is assumed that tracksstored in the HD recording and reproducing device 300 are searched fortracks containing character string “Weathe” and then the obtained tracksare reproduced.

When the controller 101 has received a search start request from theuser through the operating device 103, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “For Album?” which prompts theuser to select album search (at step S201).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the selection key ofthe operating device 103 had been pressed, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “For track?” which prompts theuser to select track search (at step S202).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the user hadselected track search, the controller 101 causes the display device 102to display message “By Title?” which prompts the user to select tracktitle name search (at step S203).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the selection key ofthe operating device 103 had been pressed, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “By Artist?” which prompts theuser to select track artist name search (at step S204).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the enter key hadbeen pressed while artist message “By Artist?” had been displayed, thecontroller 101 causes the display device 102 to display message “KeywordIN” which prompts the user to input a key word (at step S205).

Thereafter, while the user is browsing data display on the displaydevice 102, he or she operates the jog key of the operating device 103,inputs key word “Weather” for a search, and presses the enter key (atstep S206).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the enter key hadbeen pressed, the HD recording and reproducing device 300 referencesalbum/track name database file Namedb.msf stored in the HDD 309 andsearches the database file Namedb for tracks containing the key wordswhich has been input at step S206 (at step S207).

Thereafter, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaysearch result “1/7” and reproduces a track corresponding to the searchresult (at step S208). When the controller 101 has judged that theselection key had been pressed, the controller 101 causes the displaydevice 102 to display search result “2/7” and reproduces a trackcorresponding to the search result (at step S209). Search results “1/7”and “2/7” are examples in the case that there are seven trackscorresponding to the key word.

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while search result “1/7” had beendisplayed on the display device 102, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “Block Market” which informs theuser of a track name corresponding to message “1/7” (at step S210). Whenthe controller 101 has judged that the selection key had been pressed,the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to display message“Teen Town” which informs the user of a track name corresponding tomessage “2/7” (at step S210).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while message “Black Market” had beendisplayed on the display device 102, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “Album 8 Track 1” which informsthe user of an album number and a track number corresponding to “BlackMarket” (at step S212). When the controller 101 has judged that theselection key had been pressed, the controller 101 causes the displaydevice 102 to display message “Album 8 Track 2” which informs the userof an album number and a track number corresponding to “Teen Town” (atstep S213).

When the album name of user's desired album is “Album 8 Track 2”, atstep S213, the user presses the search end key so as to complete thesearching operation and process. Even if the search end key is pressed,the track is still reproduced.

In the forgoing example, while an album number and a track number arebeing displayed, when the search end key is pressed, a trackcorresponding to the album number and the track number is reproduced.Alternatively, while a track name is being displayed on the displaydevice 102, when the search end key is pressed, a track corresponding tothe track name may be reproduced.

In addition, when the search end key is pressed while search result“1/7”, . . . , or “7/7” is being displayed, a track corresponding to thesearch result “1/7”, . . . , or “7/” may be reproduced.

FIG. 42 is a flow chart for explaining a registering operation andprocess for registering a search result to a play list. In this example,it is assumed that albums which have album names containing characterstring “it” are searched and then and one of albums as search results isregistered to a play list. In this example, since steps until a key wordis input are the same as steps in the forgoing searching operations andprocesses shown in FIGS. 40 and 41, the description for those steps willbe omitted.

First of all, while the user is browsing data displayed on the displaydevice 102, he or she operates the jog key of the operating device 103,inputs key word “it” for a search, and presses the enter key (at stepS301).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the enter key hadbeen pressed, the HD recording and reproducing device 300 referencesalbum/track name database file Namedb stored in the HDD 309 and searchesthe database file for albums which have album names containing the keyword which has been input at step S301 (at step S302).

Thereafter, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaysearch result “1/2” and reproduces a track corresponding to the searchresult (at step S303). When the controller 101 has judged that theselection key had been pressed, the controller 101 causes the displaydevice 102 to display search result “2/2” and reproduces a trackcorresponding to the search result (at step S209).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while search result “1/2” had beendisplayed on the display device 102, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “Album 2” which informs the userof an album name corresponding to message “1/2” (at step S304). When thecontroller 101 has judged that the selection key had been pressed, thecontroller 101 causes the display device 102 to display message “Album5” which informs the user of a track name corresponding to message “2/2”(at step S306).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while “Album 2” had been displayed on thedisplay device 102, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 todisplay message “Pornogaffitti” which informs the user of an album namecorresponding to “Album 2” (at step S307). When the controller 101 hasjudged that the selection key had been pressed, the controller 101causes the display device 102 to display message “A day without Rain”which informs the user of an album name corresponding to “Album 5” (atstep S308).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the play listregistration key had been pressed while “A day without Rain” had beendisplayed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 to displaymessage “P. List 501?” which asks the user whether to register thesearch result to play list 501 (album number 501) (at step S309).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the selection keyhad been pressed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 todisplay message “P. List 502” which asks the user whether to registerthe search result to play list 502 (album number 502). With the dubbingapparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the usercan select play list 510 (album number 510) or play list 502 (albumnumber 502) as a play list to which the search result is registered.

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while “P. List 502” had been displayed onthe display device 102, the controller 101 registers all tracks of analbum corresponding to album name “A day without Rain” to play list 502and causes the display device 102 to display message “Complete!!” whichinforms the user that the search result has been registered to the playlist (at step S311).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that an operation forreturning to the display result screen had been performed with theoperating device 103, the controller 101 causes the display device 102to display search result “2/2”, and reproduces a track corresponding tothe search result (at step S312).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the selection keyhad been pressed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102 todisplay search result “1/2” and reproduces a track corresponding to thesearch result (at step S313).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the play listregistration key had been pressed while search result “1/2” had beendisplayed on the display device 102, the controller 101 causes thedisplay device 102 to display message “P. List 501?” which asks the userwhether to register search result “1/2” to play list 501 (album number501) (at step S314).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the selection keyfor displaying play list 509 (album number 509) on the display device102 had been pressed, the controller 101 causes the display device 102to display message “P. List 509?” which asks the user whether toregister the search result to play list 509 (album number 509) (at stepS315).

Thereafter, when the controller 101 has judged that the informationdisplay key had been pressed while “P. List 509?” had been displayed,the controller 101 registers all tracks of an album corresponding tosearch result “1/2” to play list 509, and causes the display device 102to display message “Complete!!” which informs the user that the searchresult has been registered to the play list (at step S316). To exit fromthe search mode, the user presses the search end key.

A highlight portion which has been mentioned earlier is a portion suchas a climax of a music program or a climax scene of a story of a movie(video signal). With a highlight portion as a part of a music program ora movie, the user can recognize the entire music program or the entiremovie. A highlight portion is also called digest.

As was described above, according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, since the user can easily search a large number oftracks/albums stored in a hard disk for his or her desired track/album,the management work which the user should have performed so far can beremarkably reduced.

In addition, since a database with which a search can be performed athigh speed is stored in the HDD 309, even if a large number oftracks/albums are stored in the hard disk, a search time can beremarkably shortened. Thus, according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, the user is provided with a comfortable operationenvironment.

In addition, the user can select an album search or a track search. Inaddition, the user can select an album name, a track name, or an artistname as a search key word. Thus, the user can quickly search for his orher desired album or track.

In addition, as a feature of an audio device, a search result can bereproduced. In other words, besides data displayed on the display device102, the user can listen to music and identify a search result. As aresult, since the user can browse a search result while listening tomusic corresponding to the search result, he or she can be preventedfrom mistaking a search object. This is because as a benefit of harddisk audio beginning portions of music programs can be detected at highspeed.

In addition, when an album search is performed, since a searchingfunction of the present invention provides browsing and reproducingfunctions for a search result, highlight portions of all tracks of thealbum are identified and successively reproduced. In other words, sincethe user can listen to digests which are highlight portions of an album,he or she can identify his or her desired album without need to listento all the album which is identified with a key word.

With the searching function of the present invention, searchedalbums/tracks can be reproduced. In addition, searched album/tracks canbe easily registered as a play list album which is a collection ofuser's favorite music programs.

In addition, with the play list registering function of the searchingfunction of the present invention, all music programs of an album as asearch object can be registered to a play list. Thus, the user does notneed to manually register music programs one after the other.

In addition, with the searching function of the present invention, whilethe search mode is valid, since search results are kept, after onesearch result is registered to a play list, another search result can beregistered to another play list.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with respectto a best mode embodiment thereof, it should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes,omissions, and additions in the form and detail thereof may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

In addition, according to the forgoing embodiment, it is assumed thatthe optical disc is a CD. Alternatively, the optical disc may be a DVD(Digital Versatile Disc) or the like.

In addition, according to the forgoing embodiment, it is assumed thatmusic data is stored in the HD recording and reproducing device 300.Alternatively, video data, audio data, and so forth may be stored in theHD recording and reproducing device 300.

In addition, according to the forgoing embodiment, it is assumed thatthe dubbing apparatus has a reproducing device which reproduces audiodata from an optical disc. The reproducing device may reproduce datafrom another type of a recording medium. For example, the reproducingdevice may reproduce data from a magnetic tape such as a music tape, avideo tape, or a DAT (Digital Audio Tape). Alternatively, thereproducing device may reproduce data from a magnetic disc such as aZIP. Alternatively, the reproducing device may reproduce data from anon-volatile memory.

When a plurality of music programs are obtained as search results in amusic program name search, highlight portions of music programs assearch results may be successively reproduced.

After the highlight portion of the last music program of the searchresults has been reproduced, the highlight portions of the musicprograms of the search results may be successively reproduced from thebeginning as a loop reproduction.

While a highlight portion of a selected music program is beingreproduced, when the enter key is pressed, the selected music programmay be reproduced from the beginning.

When a plurality of albums have been obtained as search results in analbum name search, highlight portions of representative music programsof the albums as the search results may be successively reproduced.

After the highlight portion of the representative music program of thelast album of the search results has been reproduced, the highlightportions of the representative music programs of the albums of thesearch results may be successively reproduced from the beginning as aloop reproduction.

A highlight portion which has been mentioned earlier is a portion suchas a climax of a music program or a climax scene of a story of a movie(video signal). With a highlight portion as a part of a music program ora movie, the user can recognize the entire music program or the entiremovie. A highlight portion is also called digest.

As was described above, according to the present invention, since theuser can easily search a plurality of programs stored in a recordingmedium for his or her desired program, the management work which theuser should have performed so far can be remarkably reduced.

Since the user can not only browse information with respect to programsas search results, but reproduce the search results, he or she canintuitively search for his or her desired programs. In addition, even ifthe user does not know an album name or a track name for which he or shewant to search, he or she can easily do that.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   100 SYSTEM CONTROLLER-   101 CONTROLLER-   102 DISPLAY DEVICE-   103 OPERATING DEVICE-   200 DISC REPRODUCING DEVICE-   201 SPINDLE MOTOR-   202 OPTICAL HEAD-   203 RF AMPLIFIER-   204 SERVO CIRCUIT-   205 THREAD-   206 EFM AND CIRC DECODING CIRCUIT-   207 CONTROLLER-   300 HD RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICE-   301 DIGITAL AUDIO I/F-   302 AD/DA I/F-   303 ENCODING/DECODING DEVICE-   304 MAGIC GATE CORE-   305 SHARED RAM-   306 HD CONTROLLER-   307 SDRAM-   308 FAT 32 FILE SYSTEM-   309 HDD-   400 AUDIO INPUT AND OUTPUT PORTION-   401 AD CONVERTER-   402 DA CONVERTER-   403 ANALOG INPUT TERMINAL-   404 DIGITAL INPUT TERMINAL-   405 DIGITAL OUTPUT TERMINAL-   406 ANALOG OUTPUT TERMINAL-   500 EXTERNAL CONTROL SIGNAL INPUT AND OUTPUT PORTION-   S1 CREATE NEW FILE-   S2 COMPRESSION-   S3 ENCRYPTION-   S4 TRANSFER MUSIC DATA FROM SHARED RAM 305 TO SDRAM 307-   S5 TRANSFER MUSIC DATA FROM SDRAM 307 TO HDD 309-   S11 OPEN REPRODUCTION FILE-   S12 TRANSFER MUSIC DATA FROM HDD 309 TO SHARED RAM 305-   S13 TRANSFER MUSIC DATA FROM SDRAM 307 TO SHARED RAM 305-   S14 DECRYPTION-   S15 DECOMPRESSION-   S101 HD FOR ALBUM ?-   S102 HD FOR TRACK ?-   S103 HD BY TITLE ?-   S104 HD BY ARTIST ?-   S105 HD KEYWORD IN-   S106 HD P_(—)-   S107 HD SEARCHING-   S108 HD 1/2-   S109 HD 2/2-   S110 HD ALBUM2-   S111 HD ALBUM3-   S112 HD PORNOGRAFFITTI-   S113 HD MASTER OF PUPPETS-   S201 HD FOR ALBUM ?-   S202 HD FOR TRACK ?-   S203 HD BY ARTIST ?-   S204 HD BY TITLE ?-   S205 HD KEYWORD IN-   S206 HD WEATHE_(—)-   S207 HD SEARCHING-   S208 HD 1/7-   S209 HD 2/7-   S210 HD BLACK MARKET-   S211 HD TEEN TOWN-   S212 HD ALBUM8 TRACK1-   S213 HD ALBUM8 TRACK2-   S301 HD IT-   S302 HD SEARCHING-   S303 HD 1/2-   S304 HD 2/2-   S305 HD ALBUM2-   S306 HD ALBUM5-   S307 HD PORNOGRAFFITTI-   S308 HD A DAY WIDTHOUT RAIN-   S309 HD P. LIST 501 ?-   S310 HD P. LIST 502 ?-   S311 HD COMPLETE !!-   S312 HD 2/2-   S313 HD 1/2-   S314 HD P. LIST 501 ?-   S315 HD P. LIST 509 ?-   S316 HD COMPLETE !!

1. A searching apparatus for searching for a desired group of tracksrecorded on a local storage medium, the searching apparatus comprising:a local storage medium for storing a plurality of tracks and managementdata, the tracks being managed as groups of albums and artists in themanagement data, group names and track names of tracks of the groupsbeing managed in the management data, a plurality of highlight portioninformation of the each tracks which represent highlight portion of saidtracks being managed in the management data; input means for inputtinginformation to designate a type of group to be searched and a keyword,the input means configured to prompt a user for a keyword associatedwith a first type of group, and then upon receiving a response from theuser, prompting the user for a keyword associated with a second type ofgroup; comparing means for comparing any keyword which has been input bythe input means with the group names managed in the management data ofthe local storage medium when the type of name input to the input meansis group name; displaying means for displaying a group candidate list inaccordance with compared results of the comparing means; controllingmeans for causing the displaying means to display the candidate list andautomatically, starting reproduction of highlight portions of tracks ofthe group on the candidate list, wherein the controlling means isconfigured to automatically successively reproduce highlight portions ofthe tracks of the group on the candidate list; and a dubbing means forreproducing the tracks of the group on the candidate list, whenactivated, the dubbing means including a synchronous recording meansthat synchronously starts and/or stops dubbing of the tracks of thegroup on the candidate list, when activated; wherein the input meansprompts the user for the keyword associated with the second type ofgroup after the display means has displayed a group candidate list inaccordance with compared results of the keyword associated with thefirst type of group.
 2. The searching apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein the controlling means is configured to repeatedly reproduce ahighlight portion of a beginning of the group on the candidate list, andwherein when a confirmation is made while the highlight portion is beingrepeatedly reproduced, the controlling means is configured to startreproducing, from the beginning, the group corresponding to thehighlight portion for which the confirmation has been made.
 3. Thesearching apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein when there are aplurality of tracks of a group on the candidate list, the controllingmeans is configured to repeatedly reproduce a highlight portion of abeginning track of the group on the candidate list, and wherein whilethe highlight portion of the beginning track of the group is beingrepeatedly reproduced, when a next group selection is made, thecontrolling means is configured to start repeatedly reproducing ahighlight portion of the next group.
 4. The searching apparatus as setforth in claim 1, further comprising: registering means for registeringa tracks of a group to a play list file when a request for registeringthe track of the group to the play list file is issued while a highlightportion of a track of a group is being reproduced.
 5. The searchingapparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controlling meansautomatically starts reproduction of highlight portions of tracks of afirst group on the candidate list and then, upon activation of aselection key, automatically starts reproduction of highlight portionsof a second group on the candidate list.
 6. The searching apparatus asset forth in claim 1, wherein the controlling means automatically startsreproduction of highlight portions of tracks of a first group on thecandidate list and then automatically starts reproduction of highlightportions of tracks of a second group on the candidate list, afterreproduction of highlight portions of tracks of the first group.
 7. Thesearching apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first type ofgroup includes album names and the second type of group includes artistnames.
 8. The searching apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein theresponse received from the user includes entry of a keyword.
 9. Thesearching apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the responsereceived from the user includes actuation of a selection key on thesearching apparatus.
 10. A searching method for searching for a desiredgroup recorded on a local storing unit, a plurality of tracks andmanagement data having been recorded on the local storing unit, thetracks being managed as groups of albums and artists in the managementdata, group names and tracks names of tracks of the groups being managedin the management data, highlight portions of representative tracks ofthe groups and highlight portions of the tracks being managed in themanagement data, the searching method comprising the steps of: promptinga user for a keyword associated with a first type of group, and thenupon receiving a response from the user, comparing any keyword which hasbeen input with the group names managed in the management data of thelocal storing unit; displaying a group candidate list in accordance withcompared results obtained at the comparison and then; prompting the userfor a keyword associated with a second type of group, and then uponreceiving a response from the user, comparing any keyword which has beeninput with the group candidate list; displaying a group candidate listin accordance with compared results obtained at the comparison of thekeywords associated with the first type of group and of the second typeof group; automatically, starting reproduction of highlight portions ofthe tracks of the group on the candidate list, wherein when there are aplurality of tracks of a group on the candidate list, the reproducing isperformed by automatically successively reproducing highlight portionsof the tracks of the group on the candidate list; and synchronouslydubbing the tracks of the group on the candidate list, when a dubbingapparatus is activated.
 11. The searching method as set forth in claim10, wherein the reproducing is performed by repeatedly reproducing ahighlight portion of a beginning track of a group on the candidate list,and wherein when a confirmation is made while the highlight portion isbeing repeatedly reproduced, the reproducing is performed by startingreproducing, from the beginning, the track of a group corresponding tothe highlight portion for which the confirmation has been made.
 12. Thesearching method as set forth in claim 10, wherein when there are aplurality of groups on the candidate list, the reproducing is performedby repeatedly reproducing a highlight portion of a beginning group onthe candidate list, and wherein while the highlight portion is beingrepeatedly reproduced, when a next group selection is made, a secondreproducing is performed by starting repeatedly reproducing a highlightportion of the next group.
 13. The searching method as set forth inclaim 10, further comprising: registering a group to a play list filewhen a request for registering the program or group to the play listfile is issued while a highlight portion of a group is being reproduced.14. The searching apparatus as set forth in claim 10, whereinautomatically starting reproduction comprises automatically startingreproduction of highlight portions of tracks of a first group on thecandidate list and then, upon activation of a selection key,automatically starting reproduction of highlight portions of a secondgroup on the candidate list.
 15. The searching apparatus as set forth inclaim 10, wherein automatically starting reproduction comprisesautomatically starting reproduction of highlight portions of tracks of afirst group on the candidate list and then automatically startingreproduction of highlight portions of tracks of a second group on thecandidate list, after reproducing highlight portions of tracks of thefirst group.
 16. The searching method as set forth in claim 10, whereinprompting the user comprises prompting the user for a keyword associatedwith an artist name, and then upon receiving a response from the user,prompting the user for a keyword associated with an album name.
 17. Thesearching method as set forth in claim 10, wherein receiving theresponse from the user comprises entry of a keyword.
 18. The searchingmethod as set forth in claim 10, wherein receiving the response from theuser comprises actuation of a selection key.
 19. A searching apparatusfor searching for a desired group recorded on a local storing unit, thesearching apparatus comprising: a local storing unit on which aplurality of tracks and management data have been recorded, the tracksbeing managed as groups of albums and artists in the management data,group names and track names of tracks of the groups being managed in themanagement data, highlight portions of representative tracks of thegroups and highlight portions of the tracks being managed in themanagement data; an input unit configured to input information todesignate a type of group to be searched and a keyword the input unitconfigured to prompt a user for a keyword associated with a first typeof group, and then upon receiving a response from the user, promptingthe user for a keyword associated with a second type of group; acomparer that compares any keyword which has been input in the inputwith the group names managed in the management data of the local storingunit when the type of name input to the input unit is a group name; adisplay on which tracks of a group candidate list are displayed inaccordance with compared results of the comparer; a controller thatcontrols the display to display the candidate list and to automaticallystart reproduction of highlight portions of the tracks of a group on thecandidate list, wherein when there are a plurality of tracks of a groupon the candidate list, the controller is configured to automaticallysuccessively reproduce highlight portions of the tracks of the group onthe candidate list; and a dubbing apparatus for reproducing the tracksof the group on the candidate list, when activated, the dubbingapparatus including a synchronous recording device that synchronouslystarts and/or stops dubbing of the tracks of the group on the candidatelist, when activated; wherein the input unit prompts the user for thekeyword associated with the second type of group after the display hasdisplayed a group candidate list in accordance with compared results ofthe keyword associated with the first type of group.
 20. The searchingapparatus as set forth in claim 19, wherein the controller is configuredto repeatedly reproduce a highlight portion of a beginning track of agroup on the candidate list, and wherein when a confirmation is madewhile the highlight portion is being repeatedly reproduced, thecontroller is configured to start reproducing, from the beginning, thetracks of a group corresponding to the highlight portion for which theconfirmation has been made.
 21. The searching apparatus as set forth inclaim 19, wherein when there are a plurality of groups on the candidatelist, the controller is configured to repeatedly reproduce a highlightportion of a beginning track of a group on the candidate list, andwherein while the highlight portion of the beginning track or group isbeing repeatedly reproduced, when a next group selection is made, thecontroller is configured to start repeatedly reproducing a highlightportion of the next group.
 22. The searching apparatus as set forth inclaim 19, further comprising: a register that registers a track of agroup to a play list file when a request for registering the track of agroup to the play list file is issued while a highlight portion of atrack of a group is being reproduced.
 23. The searching apparatus as setforth in claim 19, wherein the controller automatically startsreproduction of highlight portions of tracks of a first group on thecandidate list and then, upon activation of a selection key,automatically starts reproduction of highlight portions of a secondgroup on the candidate list.
 24. The searching apparatus as set forth inclaim 19, wherein the controller automatically starts reproduction ofhighlight portions of tracks of a first group on the candidate list andthen automatically starts reproduction of highlight portions of tracksof a second group on the candidate list, after reproduction of highlightportions of tracks of the first group.
 25. The searching apparatus asset forth in claim 19, wherein the first type of group includes albumnames and the second type of group includes artist names.
 26. Thesearching apparatus as set forth in claim 19, wherein the responsereceived from the user includes entry of a keyword.
 27. The searchingapparatus as set forth in claim 19, wherein the response received fromthe user includes actuation of a selection key on the searchingapparatus.